Bilbo's recent activity

  1. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    The best thing I did to learn more about music theory was buy a little keyboard. Learning music theory on the keyboard is so much more straight forward compared to guitar, and I was able to...

    The best thing I did to learn more about music theory was buy a little keyboard. Learning music theory on the keyboard is so much more straight forward compared to guitar, and I was able to translate that knowledge to guitar very easily.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    Bilbo
    Link
    Lots of recording music. I'm hoping to build the confidence to post some on YouTube or SoundCloud or something. I've always played music but diving into the recording aspect of it has been a...

    Lots of recording music. I'm hoping to build the confidence to post some on YouTube or SoundCloud or something. I've always played music but diving into the recording aspect of it has been a rabbit hole. It's crazy how much there is to it, and even crazier how much misinformation there is on the internet to navigate through.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on What board games have you played recently? in ~games.tabletop

    Bilbo
    Link
    Tabletop Simulator has been a life saver for board gaming with friends during the pandemic. Most recently we played Root for the first time. It seems like a great game, but does take a little time...

    Tabletop Simulator has been a life saver for board gaming with friends during the pandemic. Most recently we played Root for the first time. It seems like a great game, but does take a little time to learn. I’ve also been playing a lot of 7 wonders duel with my fiancé.

    5 votes

  4. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

  5. Comment on Feeling totally stuck trying to work out music production in ~hobbies

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    Learning piano may be the best thing you could do if you’re struggling and you don’t actually have any formal experience with an instrument.

    Learning piano may be the best thing you could do if you’re struggling and you don’t actually have any formal experience with an instrument.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on 'Toxic Christianity': The US evangelicals creating champions for Donald Trump in ~humanities

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    You put into words what I've been feeling for a a couple of years now. I've definitely fallen out of my faith as a Christian, and I think it's largely because of the things you've described. When...

    You put into words what I've been feeling for a a couple of years now. I've definitely fallen out of my faith as a Christian, and I think it's largely because of the things you've described. When people ask if I'm a Christian now, I don't even know how to respond. Even though I seek to be Christ-like, I'm finding it very, very difficult to regain my faith. I just wish there was a church that focused on community, self-improvement, and helping others. Mine used to be like that, and now it's coo-coo. And all the other ones I've been to are coo-coo too. It's so sad that it's common to include politics in the church. I don't know if it's even possible to rejoin the church. I've had more self growth through my own studies and talking to people online like this than I've had at church. I've found it very rare for people to be open to discussing their doubts in their faith, other religions, and anything that doesn't agree with the Bible. People are so afraid to question and discuss, so it feels very cult-like. How do I distinguish being a Christian with just being a good person who thought Jesus was a pretty cool guy and that I should strive to be like him?

    7 votes

  7. Comment on Do you wear glasses? in ~talk

    Bilbo
    Link
    I do wear glasses, but I haven’t been able to find a pair that I like. In fact, I see people with glasses on that I like and think would look good on me, but can’t find similar glasses anywhere! I...

    I do wear glasses, but I haven’t been able to find a pair that I like. In fact, I see people with glasses on that I like and think would look good on me, but can’t find similar glasses anywhere! I might not be looking at expensive enough places, since I usually just check Warby Parker and Costco.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Barry - HBO - dark comedy/action series starring Bill Hader in ~tv

    Bilbo
    Link
    This show is amazing. I can’t wait for season 2, whenever it’s supposed to come out. Noho hank is probably my favorite character.

    This show is amazing. I can’t wait for season 2, whenever it’s supposed to come out. Noho hank is probably my favorite character.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on What are some albums you can completely lose yourself in? in ~music

    Bilbo
    Link
    The head and the heart - the head and the heart. Their first album.

    The head and the heart - the head and the heart. Their first album.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Let's stop pretending working mothers are getting a fair go in ~life.women

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    I’m not in any situation similar to yours to say I know what it feels like, but I’m sorry, man, that sucks. I can imagine how frustrating that could be. I had a friend in high school who’s mom...

    I’m not in any situation similar to yours to say I know what it feels like, but I’m sorry, man, that sucks. I can imagine how frustrating that could be.

    I had a friend in high school who’s mom worked as a judge, made excellent money, and worked a lot. His dad worked at a grocery store and was the one to pick up the kids, take them to soccer practice, cook, etc. It was certainly atypical in the area I lived, but I loved seeing how happy the family was and how that slight change in socially accepted roles wasn’t even a topic of talk around them. Reading your post made me wonder for the first time how much shit this guy has gotten and how much stuff he had to deal with similar to what you mentioned in your post.

    Anyways, I don’t have too much to add, but I’m sorry you have to deal with that. It may sound like a small thing to complain about, but I could totally see how it could be frustrating.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Are you satisfied in your career choice? in ~life

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    Thanks for the response, it sums up something that I am now frustrated with: being told to find your passion, your calling, your hobby, and you will never work a day in your life. Just because you...

    Thanks for the response, it sums up something that I am now frustrated with: being told to find your passion, your calling, your hobby, and you will never work a day in your life. Just because you love something doesn’t mean you need to do it 40 hours a week as a career.

  12. Comment on Hey tilda swintons - what would you do if you were awarded $130,000,000 in post-tax lottery money? in ~talk

    Bilbo
    Link
    I purposely haven’t read other people’s comments to avoid biasing my response. I would take the lump sum. I wouldn’t tell anybody except my fiancée. hire a lawyer hire a financial advisor to...

    I purposely haven’t read other people’s comments to avoid biasing my response.

    • I would take the lump sum.

    • I wouldn’t tell anybody except my fiancée.

    • hire a lawyer

    • hire a financial advisor to invest a large amount of that money

    • pay off my student loans

    • start working part time and spending the rest of my time traveling and enjoying life

    • maybe try to start my own little solo business

    • write a novel

    • buy a house

    • do research on charities and give

    2 votes

  13. Comment on Are you satisfied in your career choice? in ~life

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    What are some of the things that have changed over the years in education that make it less appealing? I was thinking I would teach part time at the college level or something, but I’d love to...

    What are some of the things that have changed over the years in education that make it less appealing? I was thinking I would teach part time at the college level or something, but I’d love to hear more about your perspective in middle and high school education.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on Are you satisfied in your career choice? in ~life

    Bilbo
    (edited )
    Link
    This is a question I’ve been asking myself continuously the past month or so. I’m still technically a student, but I’m done with my classroom education and now have a year of internships until I...

    This is a question I’ve been asking myself continuously the past month or so. I’m still technically a student, but I’m done with my classroom education and now have a year of internships until I can begin working and getting payed as a physical therapist.

    There are so many settings in my career path that I’ve yet to see. I always thought I’d do outpatient orthopedics, but I’m in it right now and feel like a glorified personal trainer at the place I’m at. Most of my patients are post-op because of our clinic’s relationship with surgeons and we treat multiple patients per hour because of poor reimbursement rates from insurance. However, I absolutely LOVE when we sometimes get a patient with a weird pain unrelated to any surgery. It’s like a mystery. We figure out what’s causing the pain and educate the patient on how they fix it. It’s so rewarding to hear somebody say they can now play soccer with their kids because they’re no longer in pain or being able to get back to the activities they love.

    If I could work in a place that did this kind of therapy all day, I’d like to think I’d be incredibly happy. But right now, it feels like most of my day is giving post op patients incredibly simple exercises and watching lie there as they do them. I don’t feel challenged nor do I feel like I need an expensive doctorate to do this kind of work. Perhaps I could start my own little cash pay practice that markets toward the types of patients I enjoy treating, although I don’t feel like I’m gaining the skills necessary at my current place.

    I also worked in acute care in a hospital setting. Most of my job there was basically walking patients, getting them out of bed, teaching them what not to do with their new metal hip, etc. It was very easy and repetitive, but at least I knew I was making a difference. I took the CS50 class online during this internship because I needed some kind of mental challenge, thinking perhaps I could eventually learn enough to have a backup career in case I can’t find a job I enjoy. But man, programming got old quick. It felt like I was trying to manufacture problems that didnt really exist just so that I’d have a problem to solve. I could only imagine how much worse this would be working for a company.

    I’ve yet to be in a neuro setting yet, and I hope I get to before I graduate. I would imagine working with patients with spinal cord injuries and strokes and whatnot would be rewarding and more challenging than what I’ve seen so far.

    I’ve always loved school and thought teaching would be an incredible career. I hear horror stories about how hard it is to get a job teaching, how long the hours are, and how poor the wages are. So I didn’t pursue that. However, I may be able to teach some classes with my clinical doctorate in the future.

    I’ve also wondered if I could make a career out of writing novels and self publishing on amazon.

    There is oh-so much to think about. If anything, I feel fortunate that my field is very easy to find a job in. Also, it pays decently (although schooling is incredibly expensive compared to the salary, fortunately I got into one of the cheapest schools). Lastly, it’s flexible. I can work as much or as little as I want, and working 30 hours per week is a huge goal of mine so I can spend more time with my fiancée and our future child. This can allow me to try opening my own practice on the side, try out writing on the side, etc.

    I’ve always been one to stress about whether or not I made the right decision.

    2 votes

  15. Comment on Are you satisfied in your career choice? in ~life

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    What is it that you did not like about mechanical engineering?

    What is it that you did not like about mechanical engineering?

  16. Comment on Are you satisfied in your career choice? in ~life

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    Can you expand on what your normal day looks like and what a marketing rep really does? I think that is a possible avenue I could take if I get tired of clinical work. Also, what kind of education...

    Can you expand on what your normal day looks like and what a marketing rep really does? I think that is a possible avenue I could take if I get tired of clinical work. Also, what kind of education do you need?

    1 vote

  17. Comment on Manchester Orchestra - Colly Strings (2006) in ~music

    Bilbo
    Link
    I used to listen to Manchester Orchestra's first three albums on repeat all the time when I was in high school. I learned and sang a bunch of their songs on guitar. I was also volunteering on the...

    I used to listen to Manchester Orchestra's first three albums on repeat all the time when I was in high school. I learned and sang a bunch of their songs on guitar.

    I was also volunteering on the rehab floor of a hospital at the time, hoping to find a career path to choose as college applications came nearer. There was a patient, we'll call her Susan. Susan was around 65 years old with lighter skin and short white hair coming out of the side of a helmet she wore nearly 24/7. She never talked. She seldom made eye contact. She looked quite healthy for her age, not over nor under weight.

    Part of my duties as a volunteer was bringing dinner to the patients in the common dining area where patients would sit at round tables and talk to volunteers, and sometimes each other. Susan always had a volunteer or other staff member bring her into the commons by wheelchair and help her eat. She had difficulty with coordination because of her brain injury.

    When patients were done eating, most would go to their room to get ready for bed, but a couple would stay and chat with volunteers (old people love to share their stories). During this time, when the patients were done with therapy for the day, fed, and getting ready for bed, I would hop on the piano in the corner and try to transcribe songs that I knew on guitar to piano, since I didn't have a piano at home. Susan was always rolled back to her room soon after eating, which was quite early since she never fully finished her plate. But one night, she made it to dinner a little late because she was getting a shower around the start of dinner time. I was playing a little bit of piano and had finally gotten down how to play "Everything To Nothing" by Manchester Orchestra on the piano as I had on guitar. So, for the first time, she was in the room when I was playing piano. A staff member was trying to feed her, but I was told that she just seemed fascinated by the piano and wouldn't turn her head to take a bite. She made some uncoordinated movements with her hands on the wheels of her wheelchair, and the staff member brought her next to the piano. I played (not very well), and she stared at the keys with big blue eyes. I only played for a few more minutes since we had to get the remaining patients back to bed, including Susan.

    The next night, the doctor, who everybody appropriately nicknamed Dr. Smiley, came to see how Susan was doing. Her family also came for the first time in a while (atleast that I had seen). Toward the end of my shift, I came into the room to refill her water and saw underneath her helmet for the first time, where she had a large dent. While I was in the room, I was hearing a little bit of her story. She had tripped and fallen down some stairs. She landed on her head and suffered a traumatic brain injury that left her mute and dependent on others. I also heard that before her fall, she was a piano teacher.

    I left that hospital with an indescribable weight of...just, pure emotion. I drove home that night in the rain with my windshield wipers on, playing "Leave It Alone" on my iPod nano. Toward the end of the song, I finally let myself cry. I almost never cried. I finally realized that all these "patients" in the hospital are just like me, just like my friends, just like my family members, just like my girlfriend. I had never actually seen or heard about one of my own family members in the hospital, besides the ones working in them. I'll never forget Susan. She showed me how lucky I was to have my health, how lucky I was that my loved ones had their health, and how quickly that health can be taken away.

    That was over 8 years ago. I decided soon after that to become a physical therapist. Now, I'm finally graduating as a Doctor of Physical Therapy in under a year.

    Damn. Thanks for taking me on a road down memory lane.

    3 votes

  18. Comment on What is your favorite song of all time and why? in ~music

  19. Comment on Budgeting app in ~finance

    Bilbo
    Link Parent
    What do you do when you're out and about? How do you know how much you have left in your budget while you're out? Do you write down what you spent and just update it when you get home?

    What do you do when you're out and about? How do you know how much you have left in your budget while you're out? Do you write down what you spent and just update it when you get home?

    2 votes

  20. Comment on Tolkien fans unite! Which is your favourite Tolkien book and why? in ~books

    Bilbo
    Link
    The Hobbit. It had a huge effect on my life and the way I see things.

    The Hobbit. It had a huge effect on my life and the way I see things.